Council & Housing Association TenantsDefective Brickwork Compensation Claims
Cracks in the walls, crumbling brickwork or pointing washed away, and your landlord keeps telling you it is nothing to worry about? You may be able to claim compensation and force the repair. We help council and housing association tenants in England and Wales. Check where you stand in 60 seconds.
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Signs Of A Brickwork Problem
The outside walls are the shell that keeps the weather out. When the pointing washes away, the bricks spall, or a crack opens up, water starts getting into the wall and the damage moves inside.
Brickwork is one of the problems landlords most often defer to a future programme rather than repair. If damp is already coming through inside, that is a repair now, not a planned works item.
Signs To Look For In Your Home:
Cracks running through the brickwork or render
Crumbling mortar you can rake out with a finger
Bricks flaking, blowing or coming apart in layers
Render blown, hollow sounding or falling off
Damp patches inside that match a defect outside
A wall that gets visibly worse after heavy rain
Cracks above windows or doors, or a bowing wall
Ground level built up above the damp proof course
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Is Your Landlord Responsible For The Brickwork?
Yes. The outside walls are the clearest part of the structure and exterior, and keeping them in repair is entirely your council or housing association's job. You cannot be asked to pay for it or to arrange it yourself.
A common answer is that the property is on a planned repointing or render programme in a few years. That is not an answer where water is already coming through and causing damp inside.
Your Landlord Is Responsible For:
External walls, brickwork, mortar and pointing
Render, cladding and any external finish
Lintels, sills and the damp proof course
Investigating cracks that may be structural
Boundary and retaining walls they own
Repairing damp and plaster the defect caused inside
Making safe any brickwork at risk of falling
Can I Claim For Defective Brickwork?
You May Have A Claim If:
You rent from a council or housing association
Your home is in England or Wales
You reported the brickwork and it was not repaired
It let damp in, or made your home cold or unsafe
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Who Can Make A Brickwork Disrepair Claim?
We act for council and housing association tenants in England and Wales. If you rent from a private landlord or letting agent, or your home is in Scotland, we are not able to take your claim. Your council's environmental health team and Shelter can both advise you instead.
If brickwork, render or masonry looks like it could fall, keep away from it and report it as an emergency. Falling masonry is a danger to anyone underneath it.
The one thing to know
Outside walls, mortar, pointing and render are part of the structure and exterior your landlord has to keep in repair. Being told the block is down for repointing in a few years does not usually answer a defect that is letting water into your home today.
Should I Worry About Cracks In The Walls?
Not every crack is serious, but some are, and the honest answer is that you should not be the one deciding which is which.
Cracks that usually need investigating
- Cracks wider than about 5mm, or that you can fit a coin into
- Cracks that run diagonally, particularly from a window or door corner
- Cracks that go right through the wall and show inside and out
- Cracks that are visibly getting wider or longer over time
- A wall that is bowing, bulging or leaning
- Doors and windows that have started sticking in their frames
If you see any of these, ask your landlord in writing to arrange a structural inspection, and say why you are asking. Take a photo with a ruler or coin next to the crack and repeat it every few weeks so there is a dated record of any movement.
Failed pointing and spalling brick
Mortar that has washed out, and brick faces that flake away, are the most common brickwork defects in older social housing. Neither is dramatic to look at, but both let water straight into the wall, and that is where the damp, the blown plaster and the mould inside come from.
Bridged damp proof course
If a path, patio, raised bed or render has been built up above the damp proof course, moisture bypasses it and rises into the wall. It is a frequent cause of rising damp in council properties and it is a straightforward thing for a surveyor to spot.
Damp almost never starts inside. It starts at the wall that is meant to keep the weather out.
How Much Compensation For Defective Brickwork?
There is no fixed payout. Compensation is usually made up of two parts.
General damages
This covers the loss of enjoyment of your home. Courts often work it out as a proportion of the rent you paid while the defect went unrepaired. Rooms affected by damp, or a wall you could not put furniture against, push the proportion higher.
Special damages
This covers money you actually lost. Furniture, carpets, clothing and bedding ruined by the damp that came through the wall, and higher heating bills where a wet wall made a room impossible to heat. Keep your bills and receipts.
If damp and mould from the defect has caused or worsened a health condition, a personal injury element may also be considered.
What affects the amount
- How long the defect went unrepaired
- How much damp it let into the property
- How many rooms were affected
- Whether there was a structural or safety risk
- Whether mould followed and affected anyone's health
- The value of belongings you lost
- Whether you reported it and were ignored
We cannot tell you what your claim is worth until we have seen your evidence. Every case is different.
Your Landlord's Legal Responsibilities
External walls are about as clear cut as repairing duties get.
Section 11, Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
Your landlord must keep the structure and exterior of your home in repair. External walls, brickwork, mortar, pointing, render, lintels and the damp proof course are all part of that. This duty cannot be signed away in a tenancy agreement, and you cannot be charged for the work.
Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018
Your home must be fit to live in for the whole of your tenancy. Structural instability, and damp coming through defective walls, can both make a property legally unfit, and you can take your landlord to court directly under this Act.
Fit to live in covers the whole property, not just the rooms you can see. A wall that lets rain through is not doing the one job a wall has. If that is making a room damp, cold or unsafe, you may be able to take your landlord to court yourself rather than waiting for someone else to step in.
Housing Health and Safety Rating System
Damp and mould growth, excess cold and structural collapse are all recognised hazards under the Housing Act 2004. Your council's environmental health team can inspect the property and require your landlord to act.
Awaab's Law
Since 27 October 2025, social landlords in England must investigate a reported significant damp and mould hazard within 10 working days and complete safety work within 5 working days of the investigation concluding. Where defective brickwork is letting damp into your home, those deadlines apply to the damp, and a landlord who has missed them has a failure you can point to. From 30 November 2026 the rules widen to cover further hazards including excess cold and structural collapse.
Planned works are not a substitute for a repair
Being told your block is scheduled for repointing or rerendering in two or three years does not suspend the repairing duty. If water is getting in now, the repair is owed now. Ask in writing for the date of the planned programme and for an interim repair in the meantime, and keep the reply.
What to do if your landlord will not fix the brickwork
Awaab's Law deadlines
24 hours
Brickwork that has become unsafe is an emergency hazard and must be investigated and made safe within 24 hours.
10 working days
Where failing brickwork has let water in and caused significant damp and mould, that already falls under Awaab's Law.
30 Nov 2026
Structural collapse comes under Awaab's Law from 30 November 2026.
- Report it in writing by email, letter or the tenant portal, and keep a copy
- Photograph the outside defect and the damp inside that matches it
- Photograph cracks with a coin or ruler for scale, and repeat every few weeks
- Ask in writing for a structural inspection if a crack is growing
- Ask whether the property is on a planned works programme and when
- Keep a diary of every visit and what was actually done
- Make a formal complaint through your landlord's complaints procedure
- Escalate to the Housing Ombudsman once that complaints process is exhausted
- Get free legal advice about a housing disrepair claim
How To Make A Brickwork Disrepair Claim
From your first enquiry to getting repairs done and compensation paid, here's what to expect.
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1
Complete Our Form
Fill in your details so we can confirm eligibility and understand your situation.
2
Share Your Evidence
Send us photos, videos, and any messages you've sent to your landlord about the issues.
3
Letter of Claim
Your solicitor sends a formal claim to your landlord, starting the legal process.
4
Property Inspection
An independent surveyor inspects the property to assess and document the disrepair.
5
Repairs & Compensation
Your landlord arranges the necessary repairs and you receive any compensation you are owed.
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Brickwork Disrepair Claims: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 your landlord must keep the structure and exterior of your home in repair, and that includes brickwork, mortar, pointing, render, lintels and the damp proof course. They cannot pass that duty on to you and they cannot charge you for the work.